The original arcade version of Popeye and Donkey Kong have a lot in common. Later, this Popeye 2 Gameboy sequel seems to have taken a lot of inspiration from 1989’s Super Mario Land as the gameplay and visual style are similar.
However, Popeye’s 2 link cable multiplayer mode might have inspired the Vs mode in Super Mario Deluxe (GBC) and later Super Mario 35, a now delisted Switch Battle Royale game. What do you think?